The explosion fairly threw them back to the city. The autogyro gradually began to do what Dodge wanted, but he could hear creaks and moans from the airframe that hadn’t been there before the explosion. There was no time anymore to be picky about a landing area; he needed a space big enough to set down without clipping a building, streetlamp or tree with the rotors. It would have to be a street, one of the wide thoroughfares that ran the length of the city….
The answer was right in front of him.
He brought the gyro down as fast as he could, letting the drag of gravity spin the rotor instead of forward motion, so that the craft behaved more like a glider, seemingly hanging in the air. Floor after floor of the Empire State Building flashed by as the aircraft descended only a stone’s throw away, and on Fifth Avenue directly below, the gathering crowd of onlookers realized the gyro was about to land squarely on top of them.
The gyro came down with sufficient force that the wheel struts bent and the bottom of the fuselage crunched into the macadam.
But they were alive, and Von Heissel and Majestic were gone, and with them, their potential to send the world to oblivion. The nightmare was over.
Epilogue — The Message
Dodge cut the engine immediately, and for a moment just sat there, grateful to be alive. He watched as first Nora, and then Hurricane, squirmed out of the front seat, and then leaned over the edge of the cockpit. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t my best landing.”
Hurricane chuckled. “Dodge, I’ve flown with you a time or two, and I can testify that it was by no means your worst.”
The big man’s humor was contagious. Dodge was still laughing as he climbed down from the wreck. Somehow, Nora found her way into his arms, and it felt like the most natural thing in the world.
“Not bad,” she said, gazing up him with something more than admiration. “And thus ends another chapter of the Real Adventures of Dodge Dalton.”
He laughed again at that. “Too bad Rod wasn’t around for most of it.”
She winced guiltily. “I have a little confession to make. Rodney doesn’t write those stories. I do.”
His initial disbelief passed quickly.
“They said no one would read adventure stories if they knew a woman wrote them,” she explained.
“I would read them,” he promised, and pulled her close once more. “But if you’re going to write this story, we need to give it a proper ending.”
“You don’t think this is good enough?”
“It’s missing something.” He gently tilted her head up until their eyes met, and when he kissed her, he could that she had been waiting for him to do it for a long time.
“Ah, Dodge?”
He grudgingly pulled away from her. “Hurricane, you really know how to ruin—”
The words caught in Dodge’s throat as he followed his friend’s gaze to the edge of the crowd.
“Molly?”
Though surrounded by scores of people, Molly Rose Shannon, dressed in a bright green Indian sari, with a heavy travel bag slung over one bare shoulder, seemed somehow to be standing alone. There was hurt in her eyes as she stared back at him, but she blinked it away and started toward him.
“Sorry to just show up like this,” she said, her voice tight with emotion. “But I had to come. I’ve got a message from dad.”
“The Padre is back?” Hurricane said.
Molly shook her head. “I dreamed about him. The same dream, night after night. He told me to find you, to give you a message:
“‘The time is near. You must be ready. The prisoner has returned. He will destroy everything.’”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SEAN ELLIS is the author of several novels. He is a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom, and has a Bachelor of Science degree in Natural Resources Policy from Oregon State University. He lives in Arizona, where he divides his time between writing, adventure sports, and trying to figure out how to save the world. You can find out more about Sean at his website: www.seanellisthrillers.webs.com.
BOOKS BY SEAN ELLIS
Ascendant
Descendant (forthcoming)
The Shroud of Heaven
Into the Black
Fortune Favors
The Devil You Know (novella)
In the Shadow of Falcon’s Wings
At the Outpost of Fate
On the High Road to Oblivion
(with Jeremy Robinson)
Callsign: King
Underworld
Blackout
Prime
Savage
Oracle (with David Wood)
Changeling (with David Wood-forthcoming)
Dark Trinity — Ascendant
Magic Mirror
WarGod (with Steven Savile)
Hell Ship (with David Wood)
Destiny (with David Wood)
Flood Rising (with Jeremy Robinson)